The finisher medals for the 2020 Wuxi Marathon are photographed during a press conference at Wuxi Grand Theater on Dec 14. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Prizes for the 2020 Beverly Wuxi Marathon were announced at a press conference held at Wuxi Grand Theater on Dec 14.

In order to attract top runners from around the world, the marathon has significantly increased the amount of prize money on offer. The champion will be awarded $40,000 and a total of $172,000 will be divided between the top eight athletes.

The annual Wuxi race will be held for the seventh time on Mar 22, 2020. It was designated an IAAF Silver Label Road Race by the International Association of Athletics Federations on Nov 14, 2019.

Organizers have expanded the number of entrants to 35,000, with 22,000 places reserved for the full marathon, 10,000 for the half marathon and 3,000 for the mini-marathon.

And over 127,000 people had registered by 5:00 pm on Dec 14 –– just five days after registration opened.

The marathon, which has become extremely popular in recent years –– with a number of records broken, is held primarily as a public benefit activity.

This year, an online service platform has been introduced to support participants. The Wuxi Marathon Assistant will provide the latest event news, and assist participants with registration and in accessing support services, both during and after the race.

Another highlight of the 2020 marathon is expected to be the event's finisher medals, which are designed to resemble a music box. If you wind one up, it will play The Beauty of Taihu Lake, a well-known folk song selected as Wuxi’s city song in 2002.

And this year, even participants in the mini-marathon will receive a finisher medal.

Anyone interested in taking part has until 5 pm on Dec 17 to register, with the list of chosen participants released on the afternoon of Dec 24.